INGREDIENTS
PIE
1 ¾ cups Starling purple sweet potatoes (about 2-3 medium)
4 eggs
⅔ cups sugar
2 ⅔ Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp lemon juice
⅔ tsp nutmeg
⅔ tsp salt
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 pre-baked pie crust (recipe below)
PIE CRUST
2⅔ cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, cubed and frozen, coated with 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
½ cup + 1 tablespoon ice water
1 egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon milk (for egg wash)
DIRECTIONS
PIE
Preheat oven to 400°F. Roast the Starling purple sweet potatoes until completely tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350F. Let cool, then peel and add to a food processor. Blend until smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, combine puree with the butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt and flour. Whip the eggs with the sugar until thick and light. Fold in the sweet potato mixture. Pour into pie crust and bake for 30-35 minutes until the center of the pie is just set.
PIE CRUST
Mix flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl.
Add frozen, flour-coated butter to the bowl of a food processor, along with 1 cup of the flour-sugar-salt mix and pulse to process. The resulting mixture should resemble small pebbles that do not stick together.
Pour the pebbly mix back into the remaining dry ingredient mix and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Pour ice water into the butter/dry ingredients mixture. It should be barely hydrated and need a little force to come together.
Form into two equal sized balls, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap, then flatten into discs.
Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Take one disc and roll it around on its sides, smoothing it out, before unwrapping the plastic wrap. Dust a work table with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle an inch bigger than the pie pan. Lay the dough in the pan and fold the overhang dough underneath itself, creating a tucked or crimped edge.
The rolled pie shell can be kept for later use by wrapping it tightly in plastic and storing it in the freezer, defrosting in the refrigerator overnight before use. If using right away, let it rest again in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Brush the edge of the dough with the prepared egg wash. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or other pie weights.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and finish for 5 minutes.
